Prometheus actress Noomi Rapace was recently asked about the status of the potential Prometheus sequel in a recent interview with The Playlist for her upcoming film Dead Man Down.

“They’re working on the script. I met Ridley in London a couple of weeks ago. I would love to work with him again and I know that he would like to do another one. It’s just like we need to find the right story. I hope we will.”

She continued: “And it’s interesting because people, most people I’ve talked to who see the movie, see things that are quite different. Some people who see the movie many times and discover new things. There are all these religious aspects and there are very interesting conversations and for me, if we do a second one, there are a lot of things to explore in there and to continue. I would love to do it.”

Last December Noomi also talked briefly to the press about the upcoming sequel to Prometheus at the British Independent Film Awards.

“Who doesn’t wanna go to Paradise? [Laughs] I would love to… But I think it’s a lot of questions that Elizabeth Shaw wanna ask, answers she wanna find. There’s a lot of things for us to explore there. I have my own dreams and my own kind of things I want to kind of go into and look into but that’s something that Ridley and the script writer will come deliver to me and then we probably will go in another journey.”

Interested to know... Is it that you didn't like the movie so the "big humans" stand out like sore thumbs and make it worse for you or that regardless of what else might have been improved for you (be it script, the 'science' etc.) "big humans" would have just ruined it anyways?

Hi Darth,

The single biggest problem I have with the film is composed of two, interrelated elements.

It was the "Von Daniken/Ancient Astronaut" angle, and it's directly related consequence of retconning the originally alien Space Jockey into big Humans in suits.

While I admittedly had a lot of other problems with the film, the aforementioned is my biggest complaint, and which effectively "ruined" the film, for me.

And again, I have absolutely no problem with the equation: the Space Jockeys = The Engineers.In fact, I kind of thought this was a given.

The equation I do have a problem with is: The Space Jockeys/Engineers = Humans

Thanks D - well I'm not a lover of the 'small universe' factor... and engineers creating humans does make the Alien universe a tad smaller. However I do like the angle of humans being a failed/aborted experiment and the notion of our biggest enemy/danger being those that created us. Not sure how they'd have made that angle gel better - perhaps have left it for a twist at the end of the movie rather than the 'they are us' reveal early on?

I personally would have also cut the opening scenes with the engineer sacrifice (as nicely shot as it was), as again this took away from some of the mystery and made their culture seem a little more 'human-esque'.

Interested to know... Is it that you didn't like the movie so the "big humans" stand out like sore thumbs and make it worse for you or that regardless of what else might have been improved for you (be it script, the 'science' etc.) "big humans" would have just ruined it anyways?

Hi Darth,

The single biggest problem I have with the film is composed of two, interrelated elements.

It was the "Von Daniken/Ancient Astronaut" angle, and it's directly related consequence of retconning the originally alien Space Jockey into big Humans in suits.

While I admittedly had a lot of other problems with the film, the aforementioned is my biggest complaint, and which effectively "ruined" the film, for me.

And again, I have absolutely no problem with the equation: the Space Jockeys = The Engineers.In fact, I kind of thought this was a given.

The equation I do have a problem with is: The Space Jockeys/Engineers = Humans

I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but there is still hope Deut.

Just make the blue man group part of the 'ancient aliens' crap and have them be the genetically-tampered-to-perfection offspring of the Elephant Jockeys with humans, maybe created to be go-betweens in the ancient past? They could have human traits, forms, obviously, that can mate with the Elephant jocks biomechanical technology.

Then the Dr. Manhattans steal the secrets of the Alien goo (used to create life) to destroy their former parents, who left them on Earth, leading to the starmaps. They're angry at the Elephant jockeys, and stumble upon the Alien (which is the consequence of using the goo on humans, who were created by the Elephant jockeys causing a sort of hideous 'inbreeding.')

The blue man group sets up an elaborate temple to their perfect, hybrid kind (the head) and attempts to weaponize this goo when Janek shows up with his Christmas tree.

That the Space Jockeys are a featured and integral aspect of the Prometheus story ==> No Problem

That the Space Jockeys are the Engineers* ==> No Problem*heck, I thought we used the terms interchangeably, even before Prometheus

That the Space Jockey/Engineers are revealed to be big Humans, instead of aliens (suit or no suit) ==> Problem

Interested to know... Is it that you didn't like the movie so the "big humans" stand out like sore thumbs and make it worse for you or that regardless of what else might have been improved for you (be it script, the 'science' etc.) "big humans" would have just ruined it anyways?

But the rest was not. Omega stated the obvious in that there's the highest probability that the Engineers are the end-all of everything but... it's just so lame. The Jockey was obviously a creature of some sort. It had f**king teeth and a tongue, which were clearly shown in Alien.

I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but there is still hope Deut.

Just make the blue man group part of the 'ancient aliens' crap and have them be the genetically-tampered-to-perfection offspring of the Elephant Jockeys with humans, maybe created to be go-betweens in the ancient past? They could have human traits, forms, obviously, that can mate with the Elephant jocks biomechanical technology.

Then the Dr. Manhattans steal the secrets of the Alien goo (used to create life) to destroy their former parents, who left them on Earth, leading to the starmaps. They're angry at the Elephant jockeys, and stumble upon the Alien (which is the consequence of using the goo on humans, who were created by the Elephant jockeys causing a sort of hideous 'inbreeding.')

The blue man group sets up an elaborate temple to their perfect, hybrid kind (the head) and attempts to weaponize this goo when Janek shows up with his Christmas tree.

I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but there is still hope Deut.

Just make the blue man group part of the 'ancient aliens' crap and have them be the genetically-tampered-to-perfection offspring of the Elephant Jockeys with humans, maybe created to be go-betweens in the ancient past? They could have human traits, forms, obviously, that can mate with the Elephant jocks biomechanical technology.

Then the Dr. Manhattans steal the secrets of the Alien goo (used to create life) to destroy their former parents, who left them on Earth, leading to the starmaps. They're angry at the Elephant jockeys, and stumble upon the Alien (which is the consequence of using the goo on humans, who were created by the Elephant jockeys causing a sort of hideous 'inbreeding.')

The blue man group sets up an elaborate temple to their perfect, hybrid kind (the head) and attempts to weaponize this goo when Janek shows up with his Christmas tree.

I admittedly may be overly cynical, here, but I am sensing a direct correlation between the adoption of the "Von Daniken/ancient astronaut" angle, and what I have characterized as the "shoe-horning" of a glorified human into the Space Jockey suit. In other words, it "conveniently" became a suit, in order to accomodate the script's revelation that the Space Jockeys/Engineers are in fact large, human beings.

Now, I certainly understand that many people have no problem with this particular issue, and I of course respect their views. For me, however, this particular narrative decision was perhaps the single most aggregious mis-step for the film.

Not really. Tell me how you put the Space Jockey into the film in any other way without busting up the Alien Franchise?

It has to be either before Alien or after Resurrection. If it's after, that leaves a whole bunch of questions on why they were never found before. So you make it before, but you need the humans to find the base so how do you do that ?

You can see the thought process behind it all. It makes perfect sense.

Hi Highland,

I think you misunderstand me. I don't have a problem with the Space Jockeys/Engineers being featured or even the focus of Prometheus. I am absolutely fine with this idea. My problem is the decision that was made to turn the wonderfully surreal, alien Space Jockey into big blue teal humans.

This fact, that one of the great wonders and mysteries of the original ALIEN film is resolved and explained by something so mundane and "terrestrial", is the aggregious mistake that I am talking about. In my humble opinion, of course.

I might be the only one who found the Engineers to be a scarier idea than what was previously thought. The idea that we might be alone in the universe with a species of creatures that want to kill us.

yea i too found it creepy/eerie/unnerving - especially if you consider the engineers (and us) are the only life in the universe. they made us and want to kill us

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But we're not really alone. Ridley said that it didn't matter whether or not the planet at the beginning was Earth, meaning that the Engineers did their little experiments on numerous planets.

i know Ridley said that but i think it was meant to be earf.

-in the early drafts of the script its meant to be earf is it not?

-whilst shooting in Iceland Ridley refered to the scene as the primordial dawn of man/creation on earf or something like that

-the next scene being the cave paintings seemed to suggest it was set on earf many years ago (and its established throughout the movie that they created us so its reasonable to assume the opening was the engineer doing just that)

-the scene seems to suggest it was set many years before the engineers we see on LV233 (which has bee deserted for 2000 years) due to the different ship design - so earf again

I admittedly may be overly cynical, here, but I am sensing a direct correlation between the adoption of the "Von Daniken/ancient astronaut" angle, and what I have characterized as the "shoe-horning" of a glorified human into the Space Jockey suit. In other words, it "conveniently" became a suit, in order to accomodate the script's revelation that the Space Jockeys/Engineers are in fact large, human beings.

Now, I certainly understand that many people have no problem with this particular issue, and I of course respect their views. For me, however, this particular narrative decision was perhaps the single most aggregious mis-step for the film.

Not really. Tell me how you put the Space Jockey into the film in any other way without busting up the Alien Franchise?

It has to be either before Alien or after Resurrection. If it's after, that leaves a whole bunch of questions on why they were never found before. So you make it before, but you need the humans to find the base so how do you do that ?

You can see the thought process behind it all. It makes perfect sense.

I am sensing a direct correlation between the adoption of the "Von Daniken/ancient astronaut" angle, and what I have characterized as the "shoe-horning" of a glorified human into the Space Jockey suit.

Perhaps not a direct correlation, but an accumulative one. As Gash properly says, the suit idea might of taken form in his mind decades ago when thinking about the 'practicalities of how you could tell his story', and it was always an interesting idea with great possibilities IMO.

BUT, add in the original pitch from Spaihts about making the Jockey 'relatable' and it's all aboard the god-damned woohoo train.

For me, however, this particular narrative decision was perhaps the single most aggregious mis-step for the film.

I agree.The Derelict scene was basically an enormous imagination trigger. It was intellectually and creatively stimulating, regardless of how much knowledge you had on the actual ideas and themes behind it.

He certainly said it very publicly a couple of years before Prometheus came out. I doubt he gave it that much thought before he considered a prequel, unless whilst interviewed about ALIEN where he's talked about being amazed that none of the sequels addressed the question of 'who's the big guy in the chair'. My guess is that he always had vague ideas about the bomber pilot and when the prospect of a prequel became a reality those ideas became something more solid based on the practicalities of how you could tell his story.

Hi Gash,

I agree that your thoughts on this are, in fact, quite reasonable, and certainly possible. It is just that I have yet to find a concrete example of Ridley being on-the-record with the "suit idea", prior tothe 2009-ish period...which puts this in the same time-frame of when Alien5/Prometheus was in the conception/pre-production phase.

I admittedly may be overly cynical, here, but I am sensing a direct correlation between the adoption of the "Von Daniken/ancient astronaut" angle, and what I have characterized as the "shoe-horning" of a glorified human into the Space Jockey suit. In other words, it "conveniently" became a suit, in order to accomodate the script's revelation that the Space Jockeys/Engineers are in fact large, human beings.

Now, I certainly understand that many people have no problem with this particular issue, and I of course respect their views. For me, however, this particular narrative decision was perhaps the single most aggregious mis-step for the film.

P.S. -- I like your hypothesis regarding Ridley perhaps thinking about and identifying the Space Jockey as some sort of interstellar "bomber pilot", and hence the chair/cockpit/suit metaphor. If this was the case, I wish Ridley went with my "good" scenario (see earlier post), and at least kept the being inside the "suit" completely alien. And of course, my three scenarios and rankings are just my humble opinion.

He certainly said it very publicly a couple of years before Prometheus came out. I doubt he gave it that much thought before he considered a prequel, unless whilst interviewed about ALIEN where he's talked about being amazed that none of the sequels addressed the question of 'who's the big guy in the chair'. My guess is that he always had vague ideas about the bomber pilot and when the prospect of a prequel became a reality those ideas became something more solid based on the practicalities of how you could tell his story.

I myself had never heard the suit thing before 2009-2010 -- which would fit with the thirty years thing.

I know, OmegaZ.

I was just trying to emphasize your findings...i.e., that the quote was from 2012, and that Ridley was recounting that he first thought about the "suit" concept in 1995. IMHO, his "recollection", itself, may be dubious.

Ridley Scott: "He was perceived, the giant was perceived as skeletal and erm, I kept staring at the skeleton which was kind of a wonderful drawing by H R Giger, and erm, then I thought, twenty, thirty, twenty, actually twenty six years on (1995?), I thought what if this is not a skeleton, but, because we only see it as a skeleton, because of our own, the way we see things in our own indoctrination, and er now I thought, what happens if its another form of protection or a suit? If its a suit then what's inside the suit" ( Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's Film reviews, BBCRadio 5 live, 01 June 2012.

Thanks to wmmvrrvrrmm

Thanks for the feedback, OmegaZ.

Nevertheless, if I understand this correctly, this is a 2012 quote from Ridley Scott in which he recollects first thinking about the possibility that the Space Jockey = Suit, back in 1995. Even if we take him at his word (and his memory as accurate), this was still 25+ years after ALIEN.

Here is my personal opinion as to how the Space Jockey concepts stack up:

BEST ===> The Space Jockey is a totally alien organism, from a highly advanced space-faring civilization. The Space Jockey's form is more or less as depicted in the original ALIEN, although it has become desiccated and mummifed due to exposure to the atmosphere of LV-426. It is not a suit. It's physical form represents a surreal, biomechanical design...which may in fact have been "engineered" too perform a unique role in the alien civilization's society (e.g., bad-ass starship pilot). This "Pilot" may live a sessile life, permanently integrated to it's console, to such a degree that it is a question if the Jockey is an extension of the Ship, or the Ship is an extension of the Jockey.Lot's of cool possibilities, here.

GOOD (Acceptable) ==> The Space Jockey may have been an external, exo-suit (although as mentioned in one of my prior posts, this is not consistent with what was displayed on film). However, the important point, here, is that whatever is "inside" the suit, turns out to be just as alien and inscrutable.

BAD (Execrable) ==> The Space Jockey is just an external suit with a big blue Human inside.

----------------------------

P.S. -- I would still be interested if someone were able to dig up an interview or quote from Ridley, prior to 2008/2009, in which he discusses the possibility that the Space Jockey was a suit.

Ridley Scott: "He was perceived, the giant was perceived as skeletal and erm, I kept staring at the skeleton which was kind of a wonderful drawing by H R Giger, and erm, then I thought, twenty, thirty, twenty, actually twenty six years on (1995?), I thought what if this is not a skeleton, but, because we only see it as a skeleton, because of our own, the way we see things in our own indoctrination, and er now I thought, what happens if its another form of protection or a suit? If its a suit then what's inside the suit" ( Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's Film reviews, BBCRadio 5 live, 01 June 2012.

I am pretty sure that the first we ever heard that Ridley Scott thought the Space Jockey might be a suit, was close around the time that Alien5/Prometheus had begun pre-production/planning.

Not sure of the exact timing, but you're right - it was well after Alien was released. Wasn't it even after the original pitch from Spaihts? It was his daft idea to tie the Jockey to Earth if I recall.

The only way to redeem the mystery of the Space Jockey is to have these Engineers be just another species that has had something to do with them. Either by being a creation of the Space Jockeys or discovering their long dead remains, like humans, did. Actually, even the derelict and SJ in Alien could have been something created by a far more eerie and mysterious entity.

The Space Jockey is one of the few, possibly even the only, mystery that I enjoy just not knowing the story behind. I don't want Prometheus to ruin that. Expand upon it by all means but don't take it away from me, man!

Scott thought it was a suit, he used the updated film to tweak his creation to suit today's audience - pun intended.

You can't retcon something that's not been made absolutely clear as fact. You can leave people disappointed but that's about it.

Hi Highland,

I am pretty sure that the first we ever heard that Ridley Scott thought the Space Jockey might be a suit, was close around the time that Alien5/Prometheus had begun pre-production/planning. It is my understanding that there is no record of him holding this view either during the filming of Alien, nor anytime in the the long years that followed, except for the relatively recent past.

I think your wrong. I'm sure someone will chime in with the source material but I'm sure on the Alien commentary he rambles on about it being a suit.

Even then he actually always did say he was a pilot of a bomber type ship which is exactly what we are given in Prometheus. A pilot sitting a chair wearing a pilot's suit. Not that far-fetched is it?

actually i watched prometheus with ridleys commentary and this is exactly what he said "at the time i never thought it to be anything other than a skeleton" so yes in the beginning even ridley wanted the jockey to be skeletal and not a suit. not only that but Dan Obanon's script describes the space jockey as grotesque being bearing no resemblance to a human. i think people are disappointed due to the fact that the mystery of the jockey is ruined in the sense that nothing was known about them at the time, their whole race was a mystery in the alien franchise. not to mention that some thought the jockeys were ruined in Prometheus was also due to the fact that alien presented more of a dark "Lovecraftian" and outworldy feel to it. whereas Prometheus presented the polar opposite which was "the ancient astronaut" theme.

It's a idea I never cared for as you know, but Prometheus at least has made the hive caste idea merely one of the routes of the alien life cycle, so I'm now more reconciled to the queen existing alongside the original creepier idea behind the eggs.

^^^ Well when they did the original film,i'm pretty sure they didn't envisioned warrior xenos and a queen and yet Cameron change things and they became canon,no matter how upset some people were during production and after. The same with the xeno in Alien 3 who gets the traits from the host,another change, but hey,it's now canon.

Scott mixed things again,you may disagree with him, but it's irrelevant,cause once the movie was launched , the jockey being a humanoid became canon also.

And hey, i believe they played with the idea even during the first movie. Those murals depicting the xeno lifecycle with humanoid looking jockeys with helmet type heads didn't materialise out of thin air

Scott thought it was a suit, he used the updated film to tweak his creation to suit today's audience - pun intended.

You can't retcon something that's not been made absolutely clear as fact. You can leave people disappointed but that's about it.

Hi Highland,

I am pretty sure that the first we ever heard that Ridley Scott thought the Space Jockey might be a suit, was close around the time that Alien5/Prometheus had begun pre-production/planning. It is my understanding that there is no record of him holding this view either during the filming of Alien, nor anytime in the the long years that followed, except for the relatively recent past.

I think your wrong. I'm sure someone will chime in with the source material but I'm sure on the Alien commentary he rambles on about it being a suit.

Even then he actually always did say he was a pilot of a bomber type ship which is exactly what we are given in Prometheus. A pilot sitting a chair wearing a pilot's suit. Not that far-fetched is it?

Scott thought it was a suit, he used the updated film to tweak his creation to suit today's audience - pun intended.

You can't retcon something that's not been made absolutely clear as fact. You can leave people disappointed but that's about it.

Hi Highland,

I am pretty sure that the first we ever heard that Ridley Scott thought the Space Jockey might be a suit, was close around the time that Alien5/Prometheus had begun pre-production/planning. It is my understanding that there is no record of him holding this view either during the filming of Alien, nor anytime in the the long years that followed, except for the relatively recent past.

The paintings depict them visiting us and pointing the planet system that contains LV-223 I understand. But they also depict the Engineers being nice to us. Who's to say on LV-223 (at that point in history) the facility is even built? In that time anything could have been there. This is all pointless anyway.

I don't know why I even bother. It's like watching people dancing around a fire getting burned and pretending it's not there.

Quote

Let's say I make a new Alien film, and decide to make Jones the cat a synthetic cat. Does it break continuity? No, because there is not anything against this concept actually featured in the film. Is it a retcon? Absolutely! Nothing had set up to it, nothing implied or even suggested it. Jones was of course estabilished as a simple pet cat in Alien, but my new film would retcon him into a synthetic cat.

Scott thought it was a suit, he used the updated film to tweak his creation to suit today's audience - pun intended.

You can't retcon something that's not been made absolutely clear as fact. You can leave people disappointed but that's about it.

I'm not seeing the problem here. Of course ALIEN didn't suggest the Space Jockey was a suit, and it's pretty clear watching Prometheus that when Shaw and Ford first find the severed head they assume it to be just that. It's only once they get it back aboard the ship that they realise it's a helmet. That's the point, it's supposed to be a revelation.

Well, that is where those of us who have a problem with Prometheus find a particular sore point. I realize everyone's opinions vary. However, it is my humble opinion that "retconning" the original Space Jockey organism, and turning it into not just a creature in a suit/exoskeleton...but a friggin' big blue human in a suit...that is where Prometheus went totally off the rails.

I guess I can at least understand why some might find it an interesting "misdirection" / "twist" if the original Space Jockey turned out to be an otherwordly (alien) organism in some type of strange biomechanoid "suit". However, when Ridley decided that the "twist" would be so mundane as to be a glorified human on steroids...WTF!!! I wonder if he was simply trying desperately to create some sort of M. Night Shyamalan twist for the sake of shock and surprise. But of course, the underlying reason Scott retconned and shoe-horned a human into our favorite Space Jockey, is due to the simple fact that he decided to go with some bullshit Von Daniken-esque "ancient astronaut" storyline.

And as has already been pointed out numerous times on this forum...the fact that the original mummified Space Jockey's head featured eye orbitals in it's skull, along with teeth/tusks, indicates to me that the final design, as filmed, was never intended to be some sort of "suit".